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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23392030">We’ll Make Them Pay</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hunger Games - Fandom, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Mockingjay, Nightmare, Nightmares, Oneshot, platonic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:02:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23392030</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Johanna Mason is not okay. But of course, she won’t admit it. When a certain Katniss Everdeen comes along, keen on being her friend, Johanna has to rethink her no-friends policy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We’ll Make Them Pay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey, Everyone! My name is Wren and I just got my account today</p><p>This is my first piece on here and I’m excited to keep more coming. I decided that some platonic Johanna/Katniss was the best way for me to start!</p><p>Hope you enjoy it, and please leave reviews!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <strong>
    <span class="s1">Johanna POV:</span>
  </strong>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">My name is Johanna Mason and I am not okay. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There, I said it. That should make my head doctor happy.Underneath my scowl and glaring eyes, I’m a melancholy girl who just wants to cry. But of course, I don’t. I glare and make snarky comments. I do it to drive others away. To make them hate me. Because every single person I’ve loved is dead. And I can’t afford to hurt anyone else. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">My dumb head doctor here in 13 told me not to put a filter on my words. So I don’t. At least, most of the time. When someone asks how I’m feeling, I just tell them “stop asking. I’m fine,”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">One of the only people who refuses to despise me, or at least find me mildly annoying is Katniss Everdeen. And I hate her for it. And yes, I know she’s compassionate because we’re both messed up pretty bad. And she doesn’t want to “trigger” or “upset” me. And that makes me resent her more. And inside, maybe resent myself just a little. For being so rude to someone who means so well. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I’ve just finished washing myself with a damp rag, which is a feat in itself. I’m afraid I’d curl up in a ball and never get up if I used the shower.It’s embarrassing. I, the girl who cussed out the capitol on live television multiple times, who survived two Hunger Games, am scared of water. Even the sound of it running through pipes or the crackle of electricity sends shivers down my spine. I’ll be useless in war if I can’t handle water. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Katniss tells the nurses that she’ll be rooming with me, I’m relieved. I don’t know if I could handle having a compartment to myself. I was in isolation for so long in the Capitol. Of course, Katniss doesn’t get to know this. I pretend as if rooming with her is a slightly tedious chore. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I soften up a bit when she works her ass off to get me into training. It’s not like I hate her by any means, I’m just trying to keep from being friends with her because I don’t want her killed. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I soften up even more when I see her belongings. That she kept the spile from the arena. “Makes me thirsty just looking at it!” I say. She laughs. I laugh. It’s as if we’ve got an inside joke. What a horrible joke it is, but at least it makes us laugh. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">We go to bed that night chatting about what we plan to do after the rebellion. It’s actually just me listening to her talking. When Katniss realizes this, she asks me, “Johanna, what are you going to do after-assuming we win?” she says, trying to get me to speak so it isn’t just her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why do you care?” I say defensively and turn over to face the wall. When she begs to know what she did wrong, I ignore her. She thrashes around in her bed that night. I don’t wake her up this time. She’s never woken me when I get nightmares, but I assume that’s because I’m a quiet sleeper. Still, she gets to live with this one. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">We don’t speak at training all day. But damn Katniss. She corrects my posture when I’ve got my gun pointing the wrong direction. I make an effort and do the best words of encouragement I can when she’s struggling to finish the five mile run that I’ve already bailed on. I’m too weak and Sargent doesn’t make me. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After training, she figures out why I’m afraid of water. I don’t know who told her but I get defensive when she asks about it. I go take my pathetic washcloth bath and wordlessly climb into bed. Back home in 7, I didn’t bother much with baths. Warm water was hard to come by and I’d rather my baby sister have a clean bath than me. I always went to a lake, surrounded by redwood trees and washed myself there. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the Edible Root comes back from her shower, she quietly climbs into bed, as not to disturb me. I scowl at her. “I’m not fragile, Everdeen,” I say. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Johanna,” she pauses, sighs, then continues. “Johanna, are you okay?” I start with my automatic response. She interrupts me. “No, really, I want to know,” she says. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why should you care? I’m only ever terrible toward you,” I spit back. “Well, that isn’t true!” Katniss says, “You wake me up when I have nightmares, you encourage me during training, you give me a comfortable space to vent about things I can’t talk to anyone else about! And I know you won’t use it all against me,”When I’m quiet, she just says, “Tell me how you’re feeling,”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This snaps something inside of me. I try to regain my composure but blurt out, “Katniss, I’m a really messed up person. I shut everyone out because everyone I love dies. That makes my family and friends deaths all MY fault,”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I pause from a breath then go on, “They fucked me up at the Capitol and I cope by being angry,” I cover my mouth. Now she knows something about me. Even worse, a secret. Great, this is just great. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I don’t realize I’m crying until I feel Katniss’s arms wrapped around me. I tense up for a second, then allow myself to slip into her embrace for a few seconds. We linger there, side by side on my bed for a while. When she pulls away, I see that she’s also crying. “You’re such a sap,” I say, sniffling away the last of my tears. I smirk.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Doesn’t that feel better? Telling someone?” Admittedly, it does. But I don’t want to tell her that directly. “Not exactly when the person I’m talking to starts crying too,” She laughs. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she says with a watery smile. ‘I’m glad too,’ I think, but don’t say it. This is one of the times I do put a filter in front of my words. I can’t be a sap like Katniss. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tonight, we both wake with nightmares. I’m breathing hard. She’s crying. Typical. Her eyes show her emotions-anger, guilt, fear, love. While my lungs show mine. Whether it’s using them to scream at the peacekeepers who electrocuted me or to calm myself, they’re forever working. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I stand up and slip on my shoes. I go over to Katniss’s bed. Putting my hand on her shoulder is the closest to a hug she’ll get right now. “C’mon. I can’t sleep, let’s go for a walk,” I say. “Right now?” She asks. “No, brainless, next week,” I say, opening the door whilst she slips on her shoes. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As we walk, I can tell she’s thinking of her nightmare. “They’ll never go away,” I tell her, “I’ve had them almost weekly since my first games,” Her face softens. “Me too,” she sighs. I can tell she’s angry. Angry for the same reason I am. We’ll never be the same as we were before the reaping. There’s no fixing us. We’re stuck with these nightmares and flashbacks and trauma. There’s no reason not to be angry. We get tired of walking and retreat back to our compartment. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As we get ready to really go to bed, I hear something I don’t expect. “Friends?” Katniss asks quietly. “Friends,” I confirm. Maybe, for once, someone I care about will live. She is the mockingjay after all. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">We lay in bed. I can tell neither of us are sleeping. </span>
  <span class="s1">“They messed us pretty bad, didn’t they?”I ask from by bed. “yeah,” Katniss says with a certain ferocity to her voice, “But we’re fighters. We’ll make them pay,” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Filled with confidence, us fighters get the first nightmare-free sleep we’ve had in a while. </span>
  <span class="s1">We train harder than ever after that night. Anger and determination fuel us when we feel like giving up. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">We’ll make them pay. </span>
  </em>
</p>
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